Thomas Blasi - Group CIO

Recommended expert

Illertissen, Germany

Experience

Oct 2024 - Present

1 year 4 months

Kehl, Germany

Group CIO

Badische Stahlwerke GmbH

Member of the strategic leadership team
Responsible for 50 direct staff, plus 25 functional reports
Realignment of the global IT strategy and consolidation of the individual IT areas across divisions
Management of the central, international IT organization of the corporate group
Budget responsibility of €20 million per year
Strategic consulting for the executive board
Involvement in strategic company decisions as a management team member
Driver of digitalization
Development of the global team structure across entities in a matrix organization
Initiation and implementation of process changes
Operation and provision of the central IT infrastructure, including the data center for the entire group
Design of the global application architecture
Introduction of AI-supported solutions
Responsibility for IT governance based on ISO 27001
Implementation of Microsoft M365
Conducting an ERP selection process for the corporate group
Design and implementation of the new organizational structure as a foundation for future success
Introduction of requirements management, project portfolio management, and capacity planning for the company-wide IT within six months

Jan 2021 - Sep 2024

3 years 9 months

Stockach, Germany

Vice President Digitalization

ETO GRUPPE TECHNOLOGIES GmbH

Member of the leadership team
Responsible for 28 direct staff, plus 10 functional reports internationally in the USA, Mexico, China, India, and Poland
Realignment of the global IT strategy and driving digitalization
Management of the central, international IT organization of the corporate group
Budget responsibility of €15 million per year
Strategic consulting for the executive board as a business enabler in the development of digital business models
Involvement in strategic company decisions as a management team member
Driving digitalization
Development of the global team structure for further internationalization and establishment of service hubs
Initiation and implementation of process changes
Operation and provision of the central IT infrastructure, including the data center for the entire group
Build-out of an IoT platform
Design of the global application architecture
Responsibility for IT governance based on TISAX
SAP integration of sites in India and China into the corporate structure
Certification of an information security system according to TISAX
Creation of B2B models by integrating new companies into the corporate structure
Definition of an IT strategy aligned with the corporate strategy
Reduction of IT costs by 20% and establishment of a cost-transfer model based on the service catalog
Development of B2B know-how within the company in development, sales, and service
Establishment of the IT Process Excellence department to create added value in business processes

May 2019 - Dec 2020

1 year 8 months

Ulm, Germany

Head of IT/Organization, authorized signatory

SCHWENK Zement KG

Member of the leadership team
Responsible for 35 direct staff, plus 10 functional reports internationally in the USA, Namibia, Latvia, and Norway
Realignment of the global IT strategy and driving digitalization
Management of the central, international IT organization of the corporate group and its 120 subsidiaries
Budget responsibility of €16 million per year
Strategic consulting for the executive board as a business enabler in the development of digital business models
Development of a team structure to reduce direct reporting lines
Initiation and implementation of process changes
Operation and provision of the central IT infrastructure, including the data center for the entire group
Coordination of the global application landscape
Coordination of IT security based on ISO 27001
Management of the company program for integrating and optimizing the Nordic and Baltic companies
Taking over an already started project and correcting the under-performance of the contracted external service provider → on-time completion within budget despite COVID-19
Introduction of a global IT project portfolio management system to create transparency and prioritize all global IT projects, resulting in significant cost savings

Nov 2016 - Apr 2019

2 years 6 months

Wildpoldsried, Germany

Global Vice President IT

sonnen GmbH

Responsible for 20 direct staff, plus 5 functional reports
Establishment of the global IT department and management of all IT functions
Budget responsibility of €8 million per year
Shaping the corporate strategy and developing the derived IT strategy
Development of a global IoT platform to connect 20,000 devices in a global grid
Global coordination of IT security according to ISO 27001
Design and operation of multichannel platforms for customers and partners using the CRM system Salesforce
Analysis and further development of the IT architecture and interface management
Ensuring global quality and uninterrupted IT services based on service level agreements
Strategic international projects such as the introduction of SAP S/4HANA and implementation of ISO 27001
Reduction of personnel costs by €150,000 through the integration of all CRM systems in Germany and the USA
Reduction of license and consulting costs by €200,000 per year
Standardization of international business processes through the introduction of the SAP S/4HANA ERP system → reduction of end-to-end process lead times by two weeks

Sep 2013 - Oct 2016

3 years 2 months

Blaubeuren, Germany

IT Director

Centrotherm photovoltaics AG

Responsible for 15 staff
Management of the entire IT department, including national and international subsidiaries
Budget responsibility of €5 million per year
Development and continuous improvement of the IT strategy
Ensuring the quality and availability of all IT services worldwide
IT project portfolio management and change management
Definition, development, and implementation of a service catalog as a basis for internal cost allocation and further development of IT controlling
Definition and implementation of a service catalog, including internal charging models
Coordination of corporate programs and IT service providers
Further development of IT governance with consideration of IT security
Global coordination of information security
Management of IT project portfolio management
Implementation of an ERP system as a basis for the company-wide Business Process Transformation program
Increasing the IT’s value-added contributions and enhancing the internal perception of IT

Aug 2011 - Aug 2013

2 years 1 month

Blaubeuren, Germany

Head of IT Business Application Support Non-ERP

Centrotherm photovoltaics AG

Responsible for 8 employees
Building, leading and developing a skilled team
Budget responsibility of €1M per year
Advising international business units on IT and organizational issues (USA, Asia with China, Russia, Europe)
Analysis, design, development and operation of business applications
Optimizing business processes across the entire business process lifecycle
Supporting applications such as proAlpha, SOLIDWORKS, EPLAN, d.3 DMS, Typo3 CMS and Update7 CRM for sales, marketing and service
Implementation of the Update7 CRM system for sales and service
Standardizing server, client and network standards to support rapid company growth
Improving customer visibility across all sales segments
Saving €250,000 in annual sales costs through more efficient processes

Apr 1999 - Jul 2011

12 years 4 months

Unterroth, Germany

Head of IT

Butzbach GmbH Industrietore

Responsible for 5 employees
Member of the executive committee of the corporate group
Budget responsibility of €1.5M per year
Managing the department across three sites (Unterroth, Kellmünz, Illertissen)
IT operations for subsidiaries in France, Poland and the Czech Republic
Developing an IT strategy based on the corporate strategy
Continuous business process reengineering of current and target processes using ARIS
Interface management with the specialist departments
Leading the ERP selection and implementation of Infor LN
Implementing the 3D CAD system SOLIDWORKS with the integrated PLM system PRO.FILE
Leading national and international projects, including the IT integration of the French plant and the introduction of window construction software in Poland
Increasing efficiency, reducing lead times and complexity
Saving around €500,000 in design costs through digital platform strategies

Jul 1996 - Mar 1999

2 years 9 months

Erbach an der Donau, Germany

Head of Service Center IT

Astra-Hödlmayr GmbH

Responsible for 2 employees
Member of the international executive committee
Managing the department across 3 sites (Erbach, Rosenheim, Oberau)
Budget responsibility of €800,000
Setting up the central IT organization in Erbach
Software development focusing on logistics solutions
Operating the data center
Controlling external service providers
Setting up user and application permissions, planning server and network components
Configuring clients and servers, customizing in-house software
Creating SLAs and managing escalations
Training commercial apprentices
Infrastructure project for data coupling with ADAC for automated data exchange
Increasing efficiency by introducing Windows NT and reducing the IT budget by 10%

Jan 1995 - May 1996

1 year 5 months

Illerkirchberg, Germany

Freelance Programmer

Robert Hengl GmbH

Requirements analysis and requirements engineering together with clients
Project management within software development
Providing support to clients after the software rollout
Leading development projects such as freight cost calculation, handling general cargo transports, and custom integration of customer orders with customer-owned systems

Apr 1994 - Sep 1994

6 months

Aichach, Germany

Freelance Subcontractor

Büro + Technik Kreuzer GmbH

Designing and operating networks
Supporting business applications
Selling software to the construction industry

Feb 1992 - Mar 1994

2 years 2 months

Neu-Ulm, Germany

Freight forwarding clerk

Honold GmbH & Co. KG

IT activities

Summary

Highly experienced international leader responsible for multicultural teams of up to 50 internal and 25 external staff in global IT organizations with multiple subsidiaries
Extensive knowledge in IT management and digital transformation
Broad and deep expertise in redesigning business processes
Leading sustainable change management projects in complex, international matrix organizations across the USA, Asia, Europe, Africa, and Russia with a strong ability to overcome resistance
Strong analytical focus, conceptual thinking, and quick implementation with a trained view of the entire company
Profound methodological skills and their expert application
Participation in strategic corporate decisions